Texts taken from the “On Your Word” Missal January-February 2022
Second Sunday after Christmas
2nd week of the Psalter
FIRST READING
From the Book of Sirach (Sir 24:1-4, 12-16 (NV) [Gk. 24:1-2, 8-12])
Wisdom sings her own praises, in God she finds her boast, in the midst of her people she proclaims her glory. In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth, before his hosts she proclaims her glory, in the midst of her people she is exalted, in the holy assembly she is admired, in the multitude of the elect she finds her praise and among the blessed she is blessed, as she says: “Then the creator of the universe gave me a command, he who created me made me pitch my tent and said to me: ‘Pitch your tent in Jacob and receive your inheritance in Israel, sink your roots among my chosen ones.’ Before the ages, from the beginning, he created me, and throughout eternity I shall not fail. In the holy tent I ministered before him, and so I was established in Zion. In the city he loves he made me dwell, and in Jerusalem is my power. I took root among a glorious people, in the portion of the Lord is my inheritance, and in the assembly of the holy ones I made my home.” – The word of God.
Commentary on the first reading
The Book of Sirach consists of a collection of proverbs, sayings, maxims, and recommendations useful for living the religious life well in Israel. Every people has, among its treasures, similar works that characterize a particular civilization and are handed down from generation to generation. But then, halfway through the Book of Sirach, while it is speaking about the respect that should be shown to the elderly, the honesty necessary in commerce, and similar matters, this chapter suddenly bursts forth, in which wisdom exalts God and his plan, which is precisely to send wisdom among his people. Wisdom speaks as though she were a human person rather than a concept. And who is this mysterious person? Many commentators say that this would be the Word of God, Jesus (John himself, as we read in today’s Gospel, may have drawn inspiration from this passage for his Prologue). But it is not unreasonable to identify wisdom-as-person with the Virgin Mary. Try rereading this passage slowly, imagining that Our Lady is speaking. It will probably bring some surprises.
SECOND READING
From the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians (Eph 1:3-6, 15-18)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. In him he chose us, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him in love, predestining us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the loving design of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace, with which he has graced us in the Beloved. Therefore I too, [Paolo], having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of the love you have for all the holy ones, continually give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, so that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation for a deep knowledge of him; may he enlighten the eyes of your hearts so that you may understand the hope to which he has called you, the treasure of glory contained in his inheritance among the holy ones. – The word of God.
Commentary on the second reading
During the Christmas season we continue to contemplate the infant Jesus, God made man. The Lord’s coming into the world is not a self-contained event, but a powerful appeal: thanks to him, human beings are called to become “children of God,” or rather, to share in the life of Christ, the Father’s only Son. Now, being children means having the same nature as the parent: a cat does not give birth to a horse, but to another cat, and likewise, I received human nature from my parents, and they from my grandparents. But if I am a child of God, as Paul affirms, it means that I have also received divine nature from God! So who am I? Man or God? I am a human being called to share in divine nature, to receive and give love, to shine forever. This is the hope of which the Apostle speaks; this is the treasure of which the letter speaks. Faced with this magnificence, Saint John of the Cross exclaims: “O souls created for such lofty heights and called to them, what are you doing? What do you occupy yourselves with? Would you be blind in the presence of such light and deaf to such authoritative calls?”
GOSPEL OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to John (Jn 1:1-18)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be of what exists. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man came, sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, yet the world did not recognize him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us; and we saw his glory, glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and proclaimed: “He was the one of whom I said: He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God: the only-begotten Son, who is God and is in the bosom of the Father, he has revealed him. – The word of the Lord.
Commentary on the Gospel of the day
The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky meditated on this passage from the Gospel of John throughout his life and wrote: “You may argue as much as you like, but one thing is certain: you and I know that science alone will never fulfill every human ideal, and that man’s peace, the source of life, salvation from despair for all people, and the guarantee of salvation for the entire universe, are all contained in the words: God became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The central phrase of Saint John’s Prologue is precisely the expression: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” If God had not become incarnate, any direct relationship with him would have been impossible. There will then be time to meditate on evangelization, Christ’s mission, and his sacrificial death; today the whole world stops and adores, without any other distraction. Welcoming God in a child seems like madness to the world, and truly is. For this reason Saint Francis, the first great promoter of the nativity scene, was a “madman” in love. And so it is: every person who truly wishes to enter into a relationship with God and spend time with him has only one task: always to be joyful, because God became flesh.
